Wine has been prominently featured on dinner tables throughout history. Today, wines of exceptional quality are readily available for purchase and consumption both at the point of sale as well as in the home. The tremendous variety of wines available in the modern marketplace can be somewhat overwhelming even to the most experienced of wine consumers. For instance, one may choose from a number of different varietals such as Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Malbec. Within each varietal exists a vast array of flavors, each of which can uniquely interact with food on the palette in a host of different and often unpredictable ways.
For this reason, finer restaurants may offer the services of a professional sommelier to better assist their patrons in making appropriate wine selections. A professional sommelier may be employed to help build a quality wine selection, to procure the various wines from a supplier, and/or to manage the storage, climate control, and cycling of the wines. Use of a sommelier allows some establishments to provide a premium level of service to their patrons, including helping their patrons intelligently select a wine that, in the best estimation of the sommelier, nicely complements their particular food selections.
However, the services of a professional sommelier can be relatively expensive. This in turn can limit employment of a full-time sommelier to select higher end establishments able to afford such services, often by passing the costs along to the consumer in the form of higher menu prices. Additionally, the recommendations of different sommeliers may be highly variable with respect to the same wine and food items. Moreover, the personal biases, taste preference, and other human limits of a given sommelier can lead to undesired recommendations for the consumer.